On Tuesday morning in Hermosa Beach, SANDCAST host Travis Mewhirter and partner Tim Brewster — lefty-lefty magic! — competed in the country quota for the upcoming Itapema four-star, which begins November 10 in Brazil. There were two American spots remaining in the qualifier, vied for between Mewhirter and Brewster and Chase Budinger and Troy Field vs. Adam Roberts and Logan Webber.
Budinger and Field won their match, 21-17, 21-19.
Brewster and Mewhirter followed with a win over Allen and Benesh, 22-20, 21-18.
On the women’s side, Kim Hildreth and Megan Kraft beat Delaney Mewhirter and Zana Muno, 21-17, 22-20.
Author, journalist, podcast host, and broadcaster, Travis Mewhirter has written 4 number-one bestsellers — including Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball, alongside Olympic gold medalist Kent Steffes. He has also written award-winning features, including a package at the Northwest Florida Daily News that earned him Sports Writer of the Year, and a heartfelt story on the late Eric Zaun in Volleyball Magazine, which was an honorable mention in the 2020 Best American Sportswriting.
Following the passing of Eric Zaun, Mewhirter, alongside Jon Mesko and Katie Spieler, founded the Eric Zaun Award, which has raised more than 25 thousand to fund beach volleyball players.
Mewhirter now devotes most of his time to playing and covering beach volleyball, via his podcast: SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, as well as writing for Volleyball Magazine and commentating on Volleyball TV. Mewhirter and Bourne have written two books together: Volleyball for Milkshakes, and Playbook of Champions, both of which were number-one best-sellers.
